Originally I was going to add our dinner excursion as part of the overall post for Day 2, however given the experience we had it deserved a post in its own right. I had planned for us to visit a restaurant called “Mocking Tales” which is themed on Harry Potter and has strong wizarding world vibes. As Uber isn’t prevalent in Thailand I downloaded the equivalent app “Grab” and tried to order us a car.

However as we went downstairs a taxi showed up letting off passengers so we decided to take it instead. Communication was a barrier as the driver spoke no English, however he had the Google translate app handy and we spoke to each other with Google helping along the way. It also transpired that he only accepted cash and didn’t have any change.  Once we arrived at our destination he hurried off to the local 7-Eleven to get change for the fare.

The restaurant was quite unique and all the staff were in Harry Potter costumes as well. They had an expansive menu and all items were in the theme of the books with Dragon wings (instead of Chicken Wings), Minotaur Steaks and Demon Rings (for Onion Rings). The desserts looked decadent and were called Dragon’s Fire Breath and Spirit of the Past.

Each of the meals came with a little performance from the server, where the lights would dim and he would tell a tale and then light the food on fire.

The desserts were huge and spectacular. One was covered in Fairy Floss which melted away while the other had a chocolate covering which hid scoops of ice cream beneath.

However the end of the meal wasn’t the end of the drama. When I went to pay I realized that they didn’t accept credit cards and were a cash only business. I didn’t have enough cash to cover the bill and walked over to the nearest ATM to get the money – however it was out of order. Moreover, there was no other ATM anywhere near by in walking distance. A broken conversation with the restaurant ensued and then they came up with a plan. The chef had a motorbike and was going to take me to an ATM so I could withdraw funds. So I hopped on the back of a bike (with no helmet) and we whizzed along the back streets of Bangkok – a couple of times facing oncoming traffic down one-way streets – till we arrived at a 7-Eleven. With the money safely withdrawn I headed back to the restaurant, however this time the chef rode along the freeway in 4 lanes of peak traffic without any safety gear.

I returned to the restaurant to discover that the rest had been well cared for by the staff and they were all in Harry Potter robes and pretending to be wizards.

Never a dull moment on a Guha holiday.